


This Life We Live

by An_Abundance_of_Soph



Series: The Eppes/Granger Equation [3]
Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Colby's a dad, Don's a dad, Established Relationship, F/M, fbi cases, new agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-08 03:12:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3193121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Abundance_of_Soph/pseuds/An_Abundance_of_Soph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This sequel occurs about a year after ‘A Family Operation’ and is set about 6 years after the end of ‘You Save Me Every Day’.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“So the director has authorised the paperwork we’ve been waiting for and we are getting our second Violent Crimes unit,” Don announced. “So we are getting two new agents to train up straight out of the academy.”  
Everyone nodded.   
“How are the teams going to be split up Don?” David asked.  
“For a while we’re going to work cases together, and I’m gonna decide on the teams once we see who works well with each other,” Don explained before giving David and Colby a stupid grin, “As much as I hate to split you love birds up,” he joked, “I’m gonna put one of the new guys with you David and I’ll take the other and between the two of us we can get them up to scratch.”  
“I don’t know how we’ll survive the separation,” Colby responded with a fake sigh, “How do you want to pair the rest of us Don? We’re one man short”   
“I was thinking You, Nikki and Mark can all work together for now and we’ve got another agent coming in a few days.”  
Everyone nodded again and then Hayley interrupted any questions the agents had for Don about the final member of their team.  
“I’d say those two wide eyed Bambi’s are ours,” she said, indicating the two young agents stepping out of the elevator.

 

Don waived them over and as they approached they offered their hands to Don, who shook them before returning to lean against David’s desk.   
The new agents took in the people in front of them as Don introduced them.  
“Team, these are Agents Ben Lowe and Ethan McCormick. Ben, Ethan this is your team,” Don gestured to the two men and then to the agents sitting at their desks.  
“David Sinclair, will be leading the second unit when it’s up and running and then you’ve got Nikki Betancourt, Mark Palmer and Colby Granger,” Don introduced as each agent nodded in welcome.  
“And I’m Hayley your resident nerd,” Hayley offered from where she sat on Colby’s desk.   
“She has doctorate in applied mathematics,” David explained in response to the new guys looks of confusion, “and trust me, you’ll get used to relying on a mathematician pretty quick.”   
“We also work with Dr Charlie Eppes, but he’s a consultant and Hayley’s on the payroll here fulltime so we work with her more than Charlie these days,” Don provided.  
“Well now that everyone’s been introduced can I pull us back a bit?” Colby asked, “Who’s our last agent Don?”   
“Megan,” Don replied with a smile.  
“Megan’s coming back?” Hayley asked excitedly.  
“Yep, she contacted me a few months ago and asked whether I knew of any spots about to become available in LA and she jumped at the chance to come back to the team,” Don explained.  
Hayley, David and Colby all smiled happily at the idea of working with Megan Reeves again, while the other four agents looked on in confusion.  
“Ok I’ll bite,” Nikki sighed, “Isn’t Megan the name of the agent I replaced years ago?”  
“Yep,” Hayley nodded, “She was with the team for about three years way back when I was still an undergrad.”  
The new guys nodded with understanding, as Hayley continued.  
“Wait,” she said turning sharply to Don, “Does Larry know she’s coming back?”  
“Why do you think she’s coming back to town?” Don replied with a smirk.  
Hayley’s face lit up with a grin as she turned to Colby.  
“You owe me dinner. I told you those two would get back together!” She proclaimed.  
“Oh come on, we made that bet like almost 5 years ago,” Colby complained.  
“It’s not my fault you never made me put a time frame on it,” she laughed.  
“I’m thinking Alma,” Hayley mused in reference to a high class restaurant down town.  
“Sounds like you’re gonna be needing some overtime to pay for that, Colby,” Don laughed.   
Colby was saved from replying when Hayley’s phone rang.

“Hayley,” she answered, “Oh Charlie, What’s up?”  
A few minutes later she hung up and turned back to Don.  
“Charlie needs someone to head over a CalSci and pick up a heap of files,” she explained, “Amita said there’s a fair few boxes so I might need a hand.”  
“Sure thing, take Ethan here with you and introduce him to Chuck,” Don replied and Hayley nodded and jumped down off the desk.  
“Come on newbie,” she called over her shoulder as she headed for the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

The new guy was quiet as the rode the elevator to the ground floor and then walked to the parking garage and climbed into Hayley’s FBI issued Dodge Charger. As she climbed into the driver seat her jacket moved and Ethan caught a glimpse of a Glock holstered on her hip.  
“Since when do mathematicians carry service weapons?” he asked as Hayley started the car.  
“I’m FBI trained,” Hayley explained, “I’ve done almost the exact training that you just went through at Quantico. The only thing stopping me from being an agent is that I like having the term Doctor before my name instead of Special Agent.”  
“That’s impressive,” Ethan replied, “How on earth do you find time to get FBI training and doctorate?”  
“Don’s my dad. He joined the bureau when I was 8 so I grew up around this life and he always thought it was important that I be able to defend myself. Then when I started consulting while I was studying at CalSci he started putting me through training courses.”  
“Don’s your dad? And you said we’re going to see Dr Charles Eppes, is he another relation?” Ethan asked as they drove through downtown.  
“Yeah, Charlie’s Don’s brother, my uncle,” Hayley explained, “But enough about me. You’re the newbie, tell me about yourself.”  
“Ethan McCormick, 25. I went to college straight out of high school on a football scholarship. Got some meaningless degree in sports science and then travelled for a while before I took the FBI entrance exams.”  
Hayley glanced over at the agent in her passenger seat. He was tall, well built, which made sense if he’d been a football player. He had sandy blonde hair which was spiked up on the top and close shaved across the sides and Hayley noted absently that he was a good looking guy. 

“Well here we are,” Hayley announced a few minutes later as she pulled into one of the parking lots at CalSci. “Welcome, Agent McCormick, to the Californian Institute of Science.”  
They got out of the car and walked through the halls to Charlie’s office. Hayley knocked on the open door and then walked into the office right as Charlie and Larry were in the middle of one of their heated arguments.  
“Ok, ok, return to your corners professors,” Hayley joked, smiling over at Amita sitting at the cluttered desk over by the window.  
“We’ve got two new agents over at the bureau so I thought I’d bring one of them over to meet you all. This is Agent Ethan McCormick, Ethan I’d like you to meet Dr Larry Fleinhardt, a cosmologist and physicist, and the two Dr Eppes’, Amita and Charlie. Everyone shook hands and as Amita collected together the files for them Hayley turned to Larry. 

“So Professor Fleinhardt,” Hayley smirked, “I heard today that a certain special woman from your past is returning to the City of Angels.”  
“I assume you are referring to Megan’s return to Don’s team,” Larry replied with a slight smile.  
“Yeah I am,” Hayley smiled in return, “… You two getting back together?”  
“Yes the cosmos have aligned in order to bring us both to the same place at the same time which led to a rekindling of our romantic endeavours after all these years. Of course one could always argue that as time is fluid we never really left each other’s orbits,” Larry replied.  
“So what you’re saying is yes?” Hayley chuckled as Ethan looked on in confusion.   
“Am I hearing correctly that Megan is back?” Charlie asked.  
Hayley nodded, “Here’s all the files that Don needs,” Amita stated.  
“Ok great,” Hayley replied, “we better get going then. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon.”  
Ethan said his farewells and they headed back to the car with arms full of boxed up files.


	3. Chapter 3

As they drove away from CalSci, Ethan turned to Hayley.  
“So um, where are the good places to go out in LA? Ethan asked.  
“For food, drink or partying?” Hayley replied.  
“All of the above?” Ethan responded.  
“Umm, for drinking there’s a cop bar round the corner from the bureau office, for a good restaurant you want to head to Echo Park, there are some really nice places out there, and for clubs I wouldn’t have a clue. It’s not really my scene.”  
“Would you ahh, would you be interested in getting dinner sometime?” Ethan asked nervously.  
“Oh,” Hayley gasped in understanding, “I’m married. Almost 8 years now.”  
“Right,” Ethan replied, “Umm well this is awkward.”  
Before Hayley could think of anything to say her phone started to ring and she fished it out of her jacket pocket.  
“Hayley,” she answered.  
“Hayley,” Colby said on the other end of the phone, “Alan just called. He’s stuck out of the city and can’t pick up Lex from school. Don said if you go get her, she can hang out in the office until Alan can get downtown to pick her up.”  
“Sure thing,” Hayley replied, taking the next exit off the freeway, “on my way now. Talk soon.”  
She hung up the phone as she made another turn through the LA streets.  
“Are we ok?” Ethan asked nervously.  
“Don’t worry about it Ethan,” Hayley replied, “We’re making a pit stop on the way back to the office, I’ve gotta pick my kid up from school.”  
“You have a kid?” Ethan asked.  
“A six year old girl, her name’s Alexa.”

15 minutes later they pulled up in front of the school.  
“I’ll be right back,” Hayley said as she jumped out of the car.  
She got back in the car 10 minutes later and a little blonde haired girl climbed into the backseat of the car.  
“Hi,” she said to Ethan, “My name’s Alexis, but everyone calls me Lexi.”  
Ethan was momentarily shocked by the little girls’ confidence before he responded.  
“Hi Alexis, I’m Ethan. I work with your mum.”  
She nodded and then pulled an apple from her school bag and started eating it as she hummed and looked out the window at the passing traffic. 

Alexis ran into Don’s arms as the entered the office.  
“Hey kiddo,” he greeted, as he gave her a quick tickle.  
“Hey Grandpa Don,” she giggled.  
Hayley and Ethan placed the file boxes on the desks as David and Colby approached the small group from where they’d been standing in the break room.  
“Daddy!” Lexi squealed, and placed her down on the ground and she ran towards Colby, who scooped her up into his arms.  
Hayley smiled at the two of them and noticed Ethan look between Colby and herself. She nodded imperceptibly before walking towards her little family.  
“Honey,” She started, “Can you go and sit at daddy’s desk and do some drawing until grandpa Alan can come pick you up?”  
The little girl nodded and Colby placed her in his chair as she pulled her coloured pencils from her bag.   
“I talked to Larry while I was over at CalSci,” Hayley told her husband, “he told me the cosmos have aligned to bring him and Megan back together.”  
“I always forget what I romantic Larry is,” Colby chuckled.  
“He even chucked in some off-hand comment about the fluidity of time.”  
“Good old Larry,” David sighed, “I still remember what he said when you two got married.”  
Ben looked incredibly confused by the entire situation as David recounted Larry’s words, 8 years after he’d said them in the backyard of the craftsman house beside the koi pond.  
“Love defies time, outliving both its source and its object. Love is faster than light, for light requires time in order to travel through space, but love reaches its object instantaneously. Love journeys forever, into infinity, and it’s here binding together these two lives.”  
“How the hell do you remember that man?” Colby asked in awe, “It was my wedding and I sure as hell couldn’t have remembered that speech.”  
“I don’t know, it just always stuck with me I guess,” David shrugged, “the guy might be eccentric but he’s unavoidably brilliant.”  
Everyone who knew Larry nodded and the new guys looked on in confusion.  
Don looked at both of them and chuckled, “Don’t worry, you get used to the crazy,” he promised.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days after the new guys started, Don found himself in a car with Ben Lowe as they staked out a suspects house.   
“So Ben,” Don asked, “What made you join the feds?”  
“I’m sure you’ve read my file Don,” Ben replied.  
“I haven’t.”  
“Really?” Ben asked looking over to his boss in surprise. “Well in that case I joined the military when I was 19. Became a marine and was deployed to Afghanistan. Got back a few years ago and spent a while working dead end jobs in my home town before I realised that I needed to be in a job that allowed me to make a difference. Sheriff’s department felt like the wrong fit so I signed up for the FBI entrance exams.”  
“You sound a lot like Colby,” Don offered.  
“Because he was military?” Ben replied, “He has the look.”  
“Yeah, and you’re both small town country boys, deployed and then became feds after you got home,” Don explained.  
“Colby was deployed?” Ben asked.  
“Yeah he was in Afghanistan about a decade ago, right when it all started.”  
“So how long has everyone else been on your team?” Ben asked casually, turning the focus of the conversation away from him.  
“Ahh, David’s been with me for about 10 years, Colby for 9 and Nicki for about 6,” Don replied.  
“And the agent starting tomorrow, Megan Reeves, When did she start with your team?” Ben continued.  
“She started on the same case as Colby so 9 years and she was here for three before she moved on,” Don offered. 

~***~

The following day saw Megan walk back into the bullpen for the first time in 6 years. Hayley was the first to greet her, pulling her into a tight hug.   
“It’s good to see you Megan,” Hayley told her, “It’s really good to see you.”  
“It’s good to see you too, Hayley,” Megan replied with a smile, “it’s good to be back.”  
Colby and David then pulled her into more hugs and then Don was introducing Megan to Nicki, Mark, Ben and Ethan.   
“So Larry tells me you got your doctorate Hayley,” Megan said after meeting the new members of the team, “and that little Lexi is in school?” she continued when Hayley nodded.  
“She sure is. She’s 6 now,” Hayley said, proudly pulling up photos on her phone. “This is her at her birthday last month. She wanted a themed party and while grandpa tried to convince her that princesses and knights was a nice theme for a 6 year old, she decreed that she wanted Cops and Robbers.”  
Megan laughed as she took in the sight of Alexis dressed up in a miniature version of the FBI TAC gear that Hayley had made for her.   
“I can’t believe I’ve been gone for 6 years,” Megan sighed.  
“All that matters is that you’re home now,” Hayley replied, earning a warm smile in response from Megan.

~***~

Later that day Hayley was interrupted from an equation by the ringing of her phone.  
When she hung up from the call she walked out to the bullpen where the team were all sitting around at their desks, making the most of the quiet day to catch up on paperwork.  
“Hey everyone,” Hayley called out, “If you don’t have plans tonight you’re all invited around to the Eppes house for dinner.”  
“Is Alan cooking or is Charlie?” David asked sceptically.   
“Alan’s cooking rib eye,” Hayley promised, “he said it’s a welcome home for Megan and a welcome to the team for Ethan and Ben. It’ll be a good chance for us to get to know you guys better and Ben, you can meet Charlie, Amita and Larry.”  
“Well if Alan’s cooking rib eye,” David said with emphasis, “I’d have to be dead to miss it. Count me in.”


	5. Chapter 5

“How on earth are we going to do these dinners when the weather cools down?” Don asked with a chuckle.  
Due to the large number of people Alan and Hayley had thrown together a couple of trestle tables in the backyard and moved every seat in the house out onto the grass to accommodate everyone.  
“I remember when dinner was just Donnie, Charlie, Margaret and I,” Alan sighed nostalgically.  
“And then I came along and life was complete,” Hayley joked, “right grandpa?”  
Everyone laughed as Alan worked to avoid the question by passing the food around the table.  
Hayley looked around the table and was a little shocked by how many people were crowded around chatting comfortably. 

At one end of the table David, Don and Ethan were talking quietly, while Megan and Larry sat next to them talking to each other in hushed tones, the next group along the table were Nikki, Ben and Charlie and then Alan was talking with his daughter-in-laws Amita and Robin, while Colby was sitting between Alan and Hayley with Lexi perched on his knee. 

~***~ 

Hours later, when Nikki, Megan, Larry and Ethan had excused themselves and headed home everyone moved inside to sit around the lounge room. Hayley and Colby claimed the couch and soon Lexi was asleep curled up on her father’s lap, leaning against his chest as he gently rubbed a hand along her back.   
“I gotta say,” Ben said, “It always surprises me how ex-soldiers often make the best dads.”  
“That they do,” Hayley agreed as she pushed a loose curl behind her daughters’ ear, “and speaking of excellent dads, how’s that leave request going daddio?”  
“Didn’t I tell you?” Don asked, “You both got approved for the full three days. Paperwork will be on your desk by the end of the week.”  
“Are you taking Hayley away for a romantic weekend, Colby?” Robin asked with a knowing smile.  
“Hardly,” Colby laughed, “My platoons having a reunion and I missed the last one because this little one had the measles.”  
“What year is it?” Ben asked quietly.  
“10 since we got back from Afghanistan,” Colby replied, “although we’re combining with another platoon that we deployed with, since our numbers are a bit smaller than they used to be.”  
Ben nodded with a knowing look in his eyes.   
“How long have you been back Ben?” Hayley asked quietly from Colby’s side.  
“Going on three years now,” he replied with a haunted look.

The conversation stalled somewhat after that and not long after everyone made their excuses and headed home.   
After strapping Lexi into the car, Colby turned to Hayley.  
“I’ll be right back. Just give me a minute,” he murmured with a kiss.  
She climbed into the passenger seat and watched through the windscreen as Colby walked over to where Ben was climbing into his own car.

“Hey man,” Colby said as he approached, “if you ever need someone to talk to about what you saw or did over there, you know, you can always come talk to me.”  
“Thanks Colby,” Ben replied, “I really appreciate that. I just hope I can put it behind me and create myself a life here like you have.”  
Colby chuckled.  
“I’m not sure if I’m really much of a role model there,” he admitted, “I almost screwed it all up less than a year after Hayley and I got married, before Lexi came along and I still have no idea how we survived it. I think it was just luck and a lot of patience on Hayley’s part that got me to this point.”


	6. Chapter 6

Hayley gave Colby’s hand a squeeze as she felt him tense. He squeezed back as they walked through the double doors and entered the large room. They stopped just inside the door and wrote their names on sticky labels before attaching them to their outfits and then turning to face the rest of the room. Colby was wearing nice jeans, boots and a white button down shirt; the top two buttons left undone and the glint of his dog tags could be glimpsed when he moved. Hayley was wearing a simple blue summer dress, it was synched tight at her waist and while the neck line was cut low, the hem was modest and rested just above her knees. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and she wore a pair of casual strappy sandals.   
Colby couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face when he noticed at least half the soldiers in the room turn to stare at her. Even after a decade together he was still struck by how beautiful his wife was and had to admit to still enjoying showing her off. Within minutes of arriving they were approached by a couple of guys from Colby’s old unit and they spent a few minutes introducing themselves to each other.

The taller of the two men was Marcus, who now worked as a mechanic and the tall brunette woman with him was his girlfriend Rachel, who worked as a secretary in a Law firm. The shorter of the two men introduced himself as Nathan and his wife’s name was Annie and they both worked as paramedics.  
“Well it’s lovely to meet you ladies,” Colby offered, “I’m Colby, this is my wife Hayley.”  
“Last I heard you’d gone to work for the feds, Colby. Is that right?” Nathan asked.  
“Yeah that’s right,” Colby nodded, “I joined the bureau almost straight after we got back state-side. Went through Quantico and got placed out in LA about 9 years ago, that’s where I met Hayley.”  
“Are you an agent as well Hayley?” Rachel inquired.  
“Not exactly,” Hayley replied, “I work for the bureau but I’m a mathematician.”  
The four people in front of her stared at her for a moment before the two men turned there gaze to Colby.  
“How they hell did you manage to marry a beautiful AND smart woman?” Nathan asked.  
Hayley laughed at the serious expressions on the faces of both men.   
“I just have really low standards,” she joked.  
“But seriously,” Marcus added, “how does a mathematician work for the FBI? I mean how does math relate to finding criminals?”  
Colby groaned quietly as he sensed Hayley gearing up for the famous Eppes ‘Math is Everything’ speech.

“Math relates to everything,” Hayley started, “Math is logic, it’s rationality, it’s using your mind to solve the biggest mysteries we know. I mean,” Hayley paused and took a flower from a nearby arrangement, greatful for the prop, “Take this flower, the number of petals in each row are equal to the sum of the number of petals in the preceding two rows. It’s the Fibonacci sequence, the golden rule and it shows up everywhere. It’s in the pyramids at Giza and the Parthenon in Athens. Math isn’t just numbers on a board or code in a computer, it’s nature’s language. It’s way of communicating directly with us. Everything is numbers.”  
The two soldiers stared at Hayley in awe.  
“That’s a really beautiful way of seeing the world Hayley,” Rachel said.  
“I’ll say,” Annie agreed, “do you teach, because with an opening speech like that you should definitely teach.”  
“Thank you,” Hayley smiled warmly, “but no I don’t teach. I went straight to work for the bureau after I got my doctorate. Although my uncle is a professor at the California Institute of Science and I’ve done a few guest lectures over the years. I’ve always felt more comfortable out in the field with a gun than I have in front of a room of undergrads armed only with a piece of chalk.”  
“The FBI let mathematicians carry guns?” Rachel asked in shock.  
“Hayley’s done all the Quantico training that agents do before their first posting,” Colby explained.  
“Yeah the only difference between Colby and I is that he can arrest people where as I can tell you pi to the 400th decimal place,” Hayley joked. 

Soon after the men turned to recounting stories from their army days and eventually, as Colby knew it would, the conversation came around to the incident in the Humvee.  
Hayley felt Colby tense as the other two men recounted how Dwayne Carter had pulled Colby from the wreck before it exploded.  
“Hey Colby, what exactly happened with Dwayne?” Nathan asked after the story reached its conclusion.  
“Yeah there were rumours years ago that he was a spy for the Chinese or Koreans or someone, but then those same rumours said that you’d been arrested as a spy too, so who knows what the real story is, right?” Marcus added with a chuckle.  
“Dwayne was a spy for the Chinese,” Hayley admitted, “and Colby was arrested too.”  
The four people in front of them stood still in shock.

“When I was at Quantico, Dwayne had already joined Counter Intelligence,” Colby began, “and he contacted me about some training manuals. I reported it and ended up being recruited by the CIA to work as a triple agent to find Dwayne’s contacts with the Chinese. Long story short, I was undercover for 2 years and ended up allowing my own team to arrest me so I could break out of prison with Dwayne to finally get to his contact.”  
“Oh my god,” Nathan remarked as Colby paused for breathe.  
“Anyway I got found out and the Chinese had me interrogated. Luckily my team showed up in time before they killed me, but unfortunately Dwayne didn’t make it,” Colby finished.  
“Well shit,” Marcus sighed, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group, “How long ago was this?”  
“I was what, about 3 months pregnant?” Hayley asked Colby, who nodded, “So it must be going on 7 years now.”  
“You two were together while Colby was working as a spy?” Annie asked, “Did you know?”  
Hayley sighed, “We’d been married about 6 months at the time and no, I had no idea, even when he was arrested and gave the false confession. I didn’t find out the true story till the team went in and saved him and he woke up in the hospital and told me everything.”  
“Wow,” Marcus said, breaking the heavy silence again, “but you have a kid?”  
“Yeah,” Colby smiled, happy for the topic change, “Alexis, she’s 6.”   
Hayley passed her phone around and proudly showed off the photos.  
“Do you guys have any?” she asked the two couples.  
Everyone shook their heads and the women huddled around Hayley’s phone as she flicked through photos and they chorused ‘awwws’ at photos of Lexi pouring imaginary tea as Colby, Don and David all sat around the small table in chairs made for bodies far smaller than theirs.  
In comparison to the first hour, the rest of the night passed by uneventfully as Colby introduced Hayley to commanding officers and fellow soldiers and their families.   
They left a little after 1 in the morning and headed back to their hotel.

~***~

As they climbed into bed Hayley crawled into Colby’s waiting arms and rested her head on his chest.   
“You ok?” she murmured sleepily, “I know you don’t like talking about Dwayne and what happened on the freighter.”  
“Yeah, I’m ok,” Colby murmured back, “let’s just get some sleep.”


	7. Chapter 7

~***~  
3 MONTHS LATER  
~***~

“So our targets are a crew of high end art thieves. They’ve hit 12 private galleries in the last 3 months,” Hayley told the room of agents as she paced in front of them.  
“What we know is that they haven’t set off a single alarm system and the pieces are only noticed missing the following day. Now my algorithm has identified them and I have put together what I believe to be the makeup of their structure. They have a technician, high level computer skills, and there is definitely someone in the crew with military training. Based on what is stolen and the time that the security systems are hacked, I can also tell you that there are 4 guys in this crew and somehow they are getting inside information on the galleries inventory, whether it’s a member of their crew or a fifth man is something I can’t tell you.”  
“Now Hayley’s equation has pinpointed that this crew will hit here,” Don added, gesturing to the map on the presentation board, “and they will hit tonight so David, I want your team to handle the south and west perimeter for us. You and Colby will be stationed here, at the south entrance of the building, while Ben and Nicki will take the west. As for my team, Ethan and Mark you’ll cover the east and myself and Megan will cover the north. I’ll have tactical command and as soon as we get confirmation that the crew have made entry, I’ll make the call and we’ll move in. So get your TAC gear and we’ll move out in 20.”

~***~

Hayley yawned as she paced the office listening in to the team’s coms.  
“Alright everyone,” Don said over the radio, “it’s just after 2am so if Hayley’s right they should be showing up soon. Be on alert and get ready to move.”  
20 minutes later Hayley stood still and listened intently as the call came through.  
“Don, I’ve got a visual on all four men in the south east corner of the building on the first floor,” David said.  
“Alright team, this is it,” Don responded, “make your way to the closest entry point and we’ll all breach on my mark.”

Hayley held her breath as she waited.

“Everyone ready... On my mark… 3, 2, 1, mark.”  
Over the radio came the calls of all agents identifying themselves and Hayley listened carefully as the agents cleared rooms and progressed through the building  
“I’ve got a visual on two heading up to the second floor,” Nikki called out.  
“Ok, Ben and Nicki stick with them, Colby and I are right behind you,” David ordered.  
“We’ve got two subdued and in custody on the east side of the building,” Megan called through, “David, Don and Mark are on their way up to the second floor to assist.”  
“Copy that Megan,” David replied.  
A few minutes passed as the team silently tracked down the remaining two thieves.  
“We’ve got the other two suspects in custody on the north west of the second floor,” Don called through, “secure the building and then we’ll…” 

The rest of Don’s orders were drowned out by gunfire.

“…Shot Fired! Shot’s Fired! Agent Down!... I need a medic in here. We’ve got an agent with multiple bullet wounds…”


	8. Chapter 8

“…Shot Fired! Shot’s Fired! Agent Down!... I need a medic in here. We’ve got an agent with multiple bullet wounds…”

~***~

Hayley froze as she listened to the calls over the radio.  
“Where are the shots coming from?” Ethan called out.  
“I don’t know! I can’t see them!” Nikki yelled above the sound of gunfire

All of a sudden silence cut over the radio.

“I got him. Single shooter, north east corner,” Ben called out in the silence.  
“Who’s hit?” Nikki called out.  
Hayley’s heart raced. At least one agent was down, one of her team. An agent she’d sent into that building and to make matters worse David, Colby and Don had been silent over coms since the shooting stopped.   
“Colby’s down,” David called out over the radio and Hayley’s blood ran cold.  
“Where the hell is that ambulance?” Don yelled.

~***~  
Nurses watched apprehensively as the hospital waiting room filled with armed FBI agents in tactical gear.   
~***~

“What happened?” Charlie asked as he entered the waiting room with Larry and Amita right behind him. Alan entered the room a few moments later with Lexi held sleepily in his arms and he gently passed her to Don as David explained what had happened during the bust. Hayley looked up briefly and then returned to her worried pacing.  
“... so back up took our suspects in and we followed the ambulance straight here,” David concluded, “and now where just waiting.”

~***~

Hours later just after dawn, everyone was sprawled out around the waiting room, most were asleep, but Hayley remained wide awake as she leaned against Don’s shoulder, her daughter curled up his lap sound asleep and unaware of the situation around her.   
A doctor entered the waiting room and Hayley stood abruptly as the doctor looked up from his files and called out, “Granger?”   
Don stood slowly and gently laid Lexi down on the chairs that he and Hayley had just vacated.   
“Is he ok?” Hayley asked desperately as she approached the doctor in front of her.  
“Are you Agent Granger’s next of kin?” the doctor questioned.  
“Yes, I’m his wife. Is he alive?” she asked panicked as Don reached her side.  
“Ma’am, your husband was shot 5 times. His vest caught 2 of the shots, he took 1 bullet in the leg and a through and through to the left shoulder but the shot that’s had us worried is the one he took to the lower abdomen just below the vest,” the doctor explained calmly.  
Hayley sobbed and Don placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.  
“We were in surgery for 4 and a half hours and we’ve been able to remove the bullet and stop the internal bleeding. We’ve had to remove his spleen and there was some minor kidney damage that we have under control. He suffered from severe blood loss and the next 24 hours will be critical.”  
“Can we see him?” Don asked quietly.  
“He’s still unconscious, but yes you can see him,” the doctor agreed, “I'll have a nurse show you to his room.”  
“Thank you doctor,” Hayley choked out.  
“Just doing my job ma’am.”

As the doctor left the room Don turned to see everyone awake and watching him.  
“Ok guys, Colby’s out of surgery and the doctors are just waiting for him to wake up. Head home, get some sleep and we’ll call you if anything changes.”  
Nikki, Ben, Mark and Ethan stood and hugged Hayley before slowly making their way out of the hospital. Larry and Megan lingered a little longer before Larry convinced Megan that she needed to sleep.   
“David, go home,” Don insisted after everyone else but family had left.  
“Don, I’m not going anywhere until he wakes up,” David promised.  
Hayley scooped her daughter up into her arms and everyone made their way down the hall and into Colby’s hospital room.  
“Oh God,” Hayley gasped, “Oh God, Colby.”  
Lexi shifted in her sleep as Hayley sat in the seat beside Colby’s bed. Don, David and Alan sat down at the small table in the corner of the room.  
“I’m sorry guys but I have to go,” Robin said to Hayley and Don, “I have a deposition in an hour.”  
“It’s alright, I’ll call you if anything changes,” Don promised.  
“Actually Charlie,” Amita said, “we should go too if you’re going to make your morning seminar.”  
Charlie looked to Hayley questioningly.  
“Go Charlie,” she said quietly, “there’s no point all of sitting around here waiting.”  
“Ok, well I’ll be back this afternoon,” Charlie promised, “Call me when he wakes up.”

Within minutes of Robin, Amita and Charlie leaving, David and Don were asleep in their seats and Alan was reading a magazine.   
Hayley took Colby’s hand and settled in to her seat as Lexi continued to sleep against her chest. 

~***~

5 hours later Lexi was sitting on David’s lap while he read to her, Alan and Don were playing chess at the small table and Hayley had finally fallen asleep with her head cushioned in her arms on the edge of the hospital bed. Colby woke slowly and it was Alan who first noticed his eyes flutter open.


	9. Chapter 9

As Colby gained consciousness he tried to sit up, but Alan was already standing and with a few quick steps was gently pushing him back into the pillows.   
“Easy there,” Alan murmured.  
“Colby?” Hayley asked groggily as she woke, at the same time that Lexi gave a cheerful cry of, “Daddy!”  
“What… What’s going on?” Colby croaked as he tried to pull the cannula out of his nose.  
Hayley reached out and stayed his hand.  
“You were shot. Take it easy,” she told him gently.

“I don’t understand,” Colby admitted, “last thing I remember, we had them all under arrest.”  
“There was a fifth member of their crew,” Don explained, “He got the jump on us. It never should have happened.”  
“He’s right,” Hayley sobbed, “this never should have happened. I did this. I sent you all in there with the wrong information and…”  
“Hayley this isn’t on you,” David interrupted, “you gave us all the information you could.”  
“But what if he’d killed one of you?” Hayley cried, “I never should have sent you in there.”  
“Hayley I’m still here,” Colby soothed, “I’m fine. Did anyone else get hit?”  
“No, everyone else is fine,” Don assured him, “We took the guy out and arrested the other four.”

“Daddy?” Alexis asked from where David was holding her, “Are you feeling better now?”  
“Yeah baby,” Colby told her, “I’m gonna be a little banged up for a while but I’m gonna be just fine.”  
She nodded solemnly.  
“I love you daddy,” she whispered quietly.  
“I love you too baby girl,” Colby responded and David passed her gently over to Colby and she hugged him carefully.   
Hayley took a strangled breath as she tried not to cry.   
“I’m okay,” she promised when everyone looked to her with concern, “This is just bringing back memories of last time you were in hospital.”  
Everyone was silent as they remembered the state Colby had been in when they’d found him on that Chinese freighter.  
“Guys can you give us a minute?” Colby asked the men in the room.  
“Of course,” Don agreed, “David and I should be heading back to the office anyway.”  
“Take it easy brother,” David said before he and Don left the room.  
“How about I take Alexis back to the house,” Alan offered, and after a quick nod from Hayley, he picked up his great-granddaughter before placing a kiss to the top of Hayley’s head and walked out of the room.

Colby reached out with his uninjured arm and took Hayley’s hand.  
“Hey,” he said, giving her hand a comforting squeeze, “I’m ok.”  
“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Hayley confessed in a hushed whisper.  
“Do what?” Colby questioned.  
“Work with the FBI,” Hayley clarified, “I’m not the person I thought I was going to be. I never thought I would have the training I have. I know how to kill someone with my bare hands. I’m trained to shoot multiple different weapons with proficiency, and I barely react to seeing dead bodies any more. And what bothers me most about all of that is that it doesn’t bother me. But sitting there listening to that radio call come in,” she paused as she choked back a sob, “I’ve never been so terrified Colby, and I don’t think I can do it anymore.”  
“You’re so much stronger than you think Hayley,” Colby promised quietly.  
“I’ve been sitting here all day thinking that maybe it’s time I return to the world of academia. Maybe it’s time to take up a teaching position and provide Lexi with some stability.”  
“I’ll support you if that’s what you want to do but I want you to promise me that you won’t make any decisions, one way or another, until I’m recovered and back at work,” Colby told her, “this is too big a decision to be making while emotions are running high.”  
Hayley nodded and then laid down on the edge of the bed and snuggled up against Colby’s uninjured side.   
“I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you,” she admitted.  
“You would have picked up the pieces and done what you had to for Lexi’s sake,” Colby replied confidently.  
“I wish I could be so sure,” she whispered, “I love you.”  
“I love you too babe,” Colby replied, “you should get some sleep, you look wrecked.”  
“Hmmm,” Hayley hummed in agreement as she closed her eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

Colby had been home for three weeks and he was starting to go crazy.  
He'd spent four days under observation in the hospital before he was released. 

He'd been bed-ridden for a following two weeks and although he was now able to get up and walk around, he was still stuck in the house. 

"You need anything, Colby?" Alan asked as he entered the living room where Colby was mindlessly flicking through TV channels.   
"No," Colby sighed, "thank you Alan but I'm fine."  
Alan nodded in understanding, but before he could say anything about it, both men turned towards the door as they heard a car pull up outside.  
Moments later the front door was thrown open and Alexis ran inside with all the excitement and energy of a 6 year old.

Hayley followed behind at a much slower pace with her arms full of groceries and a tired expression.  
"Daddy can I hug you? Daddy can I hug you? Daddy can I hug you?" Lexi chanted as she bounced up and down.   
"If you promise to be really gentle with me," Colby replied as he moved the cushions he was leaning against.   
Lexi very carefully climbed onto the couch and then shuffled over till she was sitting beside her father. She snuggled into his uninjured side and wrapped her arms around him with a gentleness that was at odds with the little girl that had been bouncing with energy just moments earlier. Colby dropped his right arm around his daughter and gave her a one-armed hug before flicking the TV over to a kids channel and he settled in to watch afternoon cartoons with his daughter.   
As much as he hated being stuck in the house, he had to admit that it was nice to be there when Lexi got home from school. 

~***~

Colby returned to work 4 months after the shooting and couldn't have been happy to feel the familiar weight of his service weapon on his hip. 

~***~

David was standing at the front of the room reading out details from a file when Don walked in. Hayley was listening to David and scribbling formulas and equations across the board while Ben and Nikki were bent over case files that were spread across two desks in front of them. 

"How's your serial killer case going," Don asked as he approached the two at the board.  
"We found another victim this morning," David replied somberly, "woman in her early forties. She was staying in a motel out in Venice, paid cash, no id."  
"She had a little boy with her," Hayley sighed, "4 years old and LAPD found him hiding in the vent."  
"Jesus! Is he hurt?" Don asked, placing a comforting hand on his daughters back.  
"Not physically," she replied, "he's getting checked over at the hospital and Colby's with him."

They were interrupted by Hayley's phone.  
"Granger," she answered without looking at the display.  
"Hey it's me," Colby greeted on the other end, "doctors have cleared him but the social worker is gonna be another hour at least, so I'm bringing him back to the office with me. Be there in about 20."  
"Ok," Hayley responded, "see you then."

"Colby's bringing the boy here," she relayed when she hung up, "he's been checked out by the doctors and given the all clear."  
"Glad to hear it," David sighed, "now we just have to find out who his is."

~***~

When Colby arrived at the office Hayley walked towards him and dropped down to crouch in front of the little boy holding his hand.   
"Hello," she said, "my name’s Hayley."  
The boy stared at her silently.  
"He hasn't said a word since LAPD found him," Colby explained.  
"I bet your hungry," Hayley told the boy after giving Colby a nod, "why don't we see if we can find you some cookies."  
The boys’ eyes lit up at the mention of cookies and he took Hayley's hand as she led him towards the break room.

~***~

Don was shocked when he entered the break room an hour later. The boy was sitting on Hayley's lap as she read him a story on her tablet and he was happily munching on a cookie as he told Hayley his favourite part of the story.

"Dad this is Liam," Hayley said as Don stood by their table.  
"Hi Liam," Don smiled, "my name's Don, I'm Hayley's dad."  
"Hi," the little boy offered nervously before shrinking back against Hayley's chest and hiding behind the curtain of her hair.  
"Liam do you think you'd be ok here if I popped out for a minute to talk to some people?" Hayley asked.  
"Could I have another cookie?" Liam asked quietly.  
"Absolutely," Hayley grinned, before she handed him another two cookies from the packet. 

~***~

"He doesn't know anything Dad," Hayley said as they walked into the conference room.   
"Not his last name, his mum’s name, and he didn't see what happened to her either."

"I guess that's something to be thankful for," Don admitted, "even if it means we have no leads."

"Social services should be here soon," Colby offered as they approached the screen at the front of the room. 

"Hey Ben, can you pull up the Jane Does file on the screen?" Hayley asked, "There has to be something we're missing."

"Holy crap!" Don exclaimed when the victims’ photo appeared on the screen in front of him.  
"What?" Nikki asked, "Do you know who she is?"

"Her name is Alison Dayton," Don replied, running the palm of his hand down the length of his face.  
"How do you know her?" Hayley asked him.  
"She's your mother," Don confessed.


	11. Chapter 11

“Excuse me?” Hayley choked as everyone in the room turned to stare at Don.   
“What are you talking about Don?” Colby asked, walking over to stand beside Hayley as she stared at the photo of the woman on the board.   
“I haven’t seen her since left,” Don explained, “you were only two or three days old when she walked out, Hayley and I never tried to find her. I didn’t even know she was in LA.”  
“Liam’s my brother?” Hayley asked.  
“Yeah, I think so,” Don agreed.  
The silence was thick as everyone in the room absorbed what had been said.  
“Well I guess now we have a lead,” David said, “Nikki, Ben, I need you guys to track down everything you have on Alison and Liam Dayton.”  
Nikki and Ben nodded and then gladly left the tension filled room.  
As the door swung shut behind them Ethan stuck his head into the room.  
“The social worker is here,” he informed the remaining agents.  
“Thanks Ethan,” David replied, “Colby you should probably go deal with them. Liam’s comfortable around you.”  
Colby nodded and gave Hayley a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.  
“Hayles,” Don started nervously.  
Hayley glanced again at the woman on the board and then left the room, following Colby to the break room where Liam was sitting with the social worker. 

~***~

“So what happens to him now?” Hayley asked an hour later as she watched Liam sitting with Colby on the other side of the glass wall.   
“He’ll be placed in a group home,” the social worker explained, “and then if we can’t find any relatives, we will try to place him with a foster family or go for adoption.”  
Hayley didn’t reply as she continued to watch her husband.  
“What if we already found a relative?” she whispered.  
“Really?” the woman responded, “that’s fantastic! Are they willing to take him?”  
Hayley continued to stare through the window.  
“Dr. Granger?”   
“Hmmm?” Hayley asked, “Oh, I’m sorry. Can you give me a minute?”  
Without waiting for a reply she walked back towards the door and stuck her head into break room.   
“Colby can I talk to you for a minute?” Hayley motioned for him to follow her outside.

“What’s up?” he asked when they were standing out of ear shot of both Liam and the Social Worker.   
“I think we should take Liam home with us,” Hayley said in a rush.  
“Hayley,” Colby started to object.  
“No, listen to me,” Hayley replied, “If dad’s right, he’s my brother. I might be the only family he has. And he’s already comfortable around us and Lexi will love having a little brother.”  
“Ok,” Colby agreed reluctantly, “But we need to sit down and talk about this when we get a chance. Talk about this properly.”  
“Thank you,” Hayley gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck, “Thank you so much.”  
She kissed him deeply and then turned to walk back towards the break room to where the social worker was sitting with Liam.

“So Liam won’t have to go into a group home,” Hayley declared happily when she stepped up behind Liam, placing a comforting hand on his little shoulder.  
“Are his relatives willing to take him?” the social worker asked happily.  
“We’re going to take him in,” Hayley smiled, looking fondly down at Liam.  
“Dr Granger, as much as I commend that you want to look after him, I can’t let him into your custody just because you want him. That’s not how this works. If we can’t locate relatives willing to take him he has to enter the system and then you could follow procedure if you wanted to adopt him.”  
“No, you don’t understand,” Hayley responded, “I’m his half-sister. We have the same mother. We only just identified her just before you arrived.”  
“Well, in that case,” the social worker offered, “I’d have to draw up some paperwork and check to make sure everything is in order but I guess that would make you his closest relative if his father can’t be located.”


	12. 8 months later

“Agent Eppes is it true that you had a personal connection to the victim?”  
Hayley huffed in frustration and Colby squeezed her hand comfortingly. The defence attorney pacing the courtroom reinforced every stereotype about lawyers. He was sleazy and everything about him made Hayley’s skin crawl.  
“I knew her about 30 years ago but I haven’t had any contact with her in almost 28 years,” Don admitted, “There was nothing…”  
“Thank you agent,” the lawyer interrupted, “I think we’ve heard all we needed. You may return to your seat.”  
Hayley twitched in her seat, silently fuming, and it was only Colby’s hand on her shoulder that kept her seated.  
As Don sat down beside Hayley the judge addressed Robin, who was prosecuting the case.  
“Mrs. Eppes, you may call your final witness to the stand,” he announced.  
“Thank you your honour,” Robin replied, “I would like to call to the stand Dr. Hayley Granger.”  
Hayley took a deep breath and let Colby give her hand one last squeeze before standing up and making her way to the front of the court room and after being sworn in, she took a seat.  
“Dr Granger, thank you for your time,” Robin began, “if you wouldn’t mind could please introduce yourself to the jury and explain your connection to this case.”  
Hayley gave a quick nod and turned in her seat to face the 12 members of the jury.  
“My name is Dr Hayley Granger and I’m an applied mathematician. I work for the FBI and I work with Agent Eppes and Agent Sinclair’s Violent Crimes teams.”  
Hayley spent the next hour explaining the math she had used to help the team find her mother’s killer. She remained professional and Robin focused her questions so that Hayley would not have to admit to the personal nature of the case. Before long Robin concluded her questions and returned to her seat as the defence attorney approached the stand where Hayley sat.  
“Miss Granger,” he began, “can you tell the court what your maiden name is?”  
“Objection,” Robin called out, “relevance to the case, your honour.”  
The judged motion for her to return to her seat.  
“I’ll let it stand,” he responded, “find your point quickly Councillor.”  
“Well first of all it’s Doctor Granger, not miss,” Hayley sniped, “and my maiden name is Eppes.”  
“My apologies Doctor,” the attorney replied insincerely. “Eppes,” he continued, “that’s not a very common name. Are you any relation to Agent Eppes?”  
Hayley glanced a look to Robin, who nodded.  
“He’s my father,” she admitted reluctantly.  
“And what about the prosecutor, Mrs Eppes?” he continued, gesturing to where Robin sat to his left.  
“My step-mother,” Hayley replied and her heart sank. He wasn’t even going to mention her math; he was just going to tare apart her credibility.  
“Now earlier today we heard from Agent Eppes, your father,” he added, “that he personally knew the victim. Can you tell the court what your connection was to the victim? And I remind you Doctor that you are under oath.”  
“Alison Dayton was my biological mother,” Hayley replied stubbornly, “But I’ve never…”  
“Thank you Doctor,” the attorney interrupted. He turned to face the members of the jury but continued to address Hayley.  
“So what your saying is that one of lead agents on this case had been romantically involved with the victim, the mathematician, whose equation lead to my clients arrest is the victims daughter, and the prosecutor is married to the victims ex-partner and is raising the victims child. Did I get that right?” he asked patronisingly. “That seems like a conflict of interest, doesn't it doctor?.”  
“Technically yes,” Hayley replied and she continued quickly before he could interrupt her. “However I never met the woman. She left before I was even a week old and neither my father nor I have had any contact with her since. Furthermore Robin Eppes may be my step-mother but she certainly is not raising me, as you put it. I was in my 20’s, married, with a daughter before she married my father. There may be a small personal connection between my team and the victim but it in no way affected our ability to do our jobs. And it in no way affected my math, which I would like to remind the court, lead to the defendant’s arrest. The fact that the victim is my mother doesn’t change the fact that we found the defendants DNA on the victim’s body and it shouldn’t change the juries view of the evidence put before them in this case.”  
The room was silent for a moment when Hayley finished speaking. Robin gave a small nod when Hayley looked to her, and when she chanced a glance towards the gallery she saw Don and Colby sitting side by side, wearing matching grins of pride.  
“So you are saying that you weren’t emotionally motivated to find the person responsible for your mother’s death. You didn’t feel compelled to catch that person, to seek justice for your brother?”  
Hayley froze for a small moment and gathered her thoughts.  
“I always feel compelled to seek justice for the victim and their family. It’s why I do this job,” Hayley responded confidently.  
“But you have applied to be your half-brothers legal guardian, haven’t you?”  
“Yes I have. I’m his only living relative and my husband and I didn’t want to see him enter the foster care system.”  
“I have no further questions your honour.”  
“Very well,” the judge replied, “thank you for your time Dr Granger. The court will now take a 30 minutes recess and will return for closing statements from both parties.”

Robin looked confident and unstoppable as the paced the courtroom floor in front of the jury.  
“The defence have spent the day trying to distract you from the facts of the case. They have tried to make you doubt the evidence put to you by highlighting the personal connection between the victim and the investigating officers. I say tried because I believe that every one of you is highly intelligent and will not be dissuaded from the evidence and facts of the case. The facts are that the defendant had a history of violence. He has already served time in prison for assault and now the FBI has been able to link him to 23 murders in Los Angeles. Alison Dayton was his last victim. She was a mother, a sister, a daughter and he killed her for no other reason than convenience. She had done nothing to deserve what this monster did to her. She was simply in the wrong place and the wrong time and he decided to take her life for no other reason that for the thrill. You have all seen the crime scene photos. You’ve seen the way he carved up her body with a kitchen knife, just as he carved up the previous 22 woman. This isn’t some vendetta for the FBI, the defendant left behind DNA evidence, and Dr Granger’s equations has definitively linked him to all 23 murders. There should be no question in your minds that he is guilty. Do what you know is right. Give the families of these women the closure they deserve.”  
Robin met the eyes of each member of the jury before she calmly turned and returned to her seat. The defence attorney greasily rose to his feet and prowled towards the jury bench. 

“Ladies and Gentleman of the jury,” he began and Hayley shuffled in her seat as he spoke.   
When he finally returned to his seat and the judged dismissed the jury to deliberate, Hayley leant her head against Colby’s shoulder and heaved a heavy sigh.


	13. Chapter 13

“We find the defendant guilty.”

Guilty.  
The word echoed around the courtroom and everyone around Hayley smiled and clapped and congratulated one another on a job well done. Hayley remained in her seat and looked towards where her mother’s murderer sat. She felt none of the joy of her family and friends. She only felt numb. A small part of her was glad that he would never kill another woman again, but mostly she was just sad that this would mean nothing to the little boy she had waiting at home for her. This result wouldn’t change the fact the Liam missed his mother and it wouldn’t give him any comfort when he woke screaming for her in the middle of the night. It had been 8 months since her death and yet Hayley still found herself curled up in his bed most nights rocking him back to sleep and rubbing his back to help soothe the sobs that racked his tiny body. 

An hour later they all left the courtroom with the judges’ sentencing ringing in their ears.

“So he got the death sentence?” Alan asked as they all sat around in the backyard of the craftsman house and watched the two kids run around on the grass.  
The various agents nodded and Alan sighed.  
“Well I guess it’s finally over then.”  
The group was silent for a moment before Hayley stood abruptly and announced that she was going to fetch some more drinks.  
Don followed after her and caught up when she reached the kitchen.

“Are you ok?” he asked quietly.  
“Yeah,” Hayley sighed, “I’m just not quite sure how I’m supposed to react.”  
“that’s fair enough,” Don offered, “have you thought any more about when you’re gonna come back to work Hayles?”  
“I don’t think I am dad,” Hayley replied.  
“Hayley, I know your mum’s case knocked you around for a bit and I understand that you needed to take some time off to help Liam adjust but he’ll be in school next month…”  
“It wasn’t the case dad,” Hayley explained, “I’ve been thinking about quitting for a while now. Since Colby was shot last year to be honest. I never wanted to be an agent dad; I wanted to be a mathematician.”  
“Hayley you are a mathematician,” Don replied.  
“No dad I’m not. I’m an agent that’s been benched and isn’t allowed out in the field.”  
“Do you want to be in the field?” Don asked seriously.  
“I…. I honestly don’t know. Maybe?” Hayley responded hesitantly.  
“Well, have a think about it. Talk to Colby and then let me know. You have the training, so if you want to be in the field I can make that happen.”  
Hayley nodded and then turned and walked back out to the backyard where everyone was chatting happily.


End file.
